Game summary for December 28, 2021, NERDS Candy Adventures campaign, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, for Expeditions-R-Us. Session included: Green (D&D NERDS Bard played by Elyse Scruggs), Orange (D&D NERDS Fighter played by Casey Scruggs), and Pink (D&D NERDS Rogue played by Sarah Jane Scruggs). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.
The Nerds learned someone had stolen the spirit of Christmas, and they had tracked the culprit to a gloomy cavern. The Nerds, led by Pink the Rogue, moved inside with torches and candles lit. Inside they found angry animated gingerbread men! They gnashed their candy corn teeth and rushed to the attack! One, standing on a rocky perch, continued to hit Orange the Fighter with candy sprinkles, which induced carb coma fatigue! Pink used her torch to burn several of the cookies! Green clobbered several with her rapier while Orange struggled to stay awake. The team defeated the cookies, and Green had the idea of tasting the delicious gingerbread and discovered the magical cookies healed their wounds and restored Orange’s energy. They quickly looted the dough!
A narrow cave passage led to a locked green door. Pink was easily able to pick the lock, and on the other side was a grinch. The team rushed in and stayed in a tight group. The grinch responded by hitting them with a roast beast spell, burning them! The team landed several blows on the grinch, and shrunk Green down two sizes too small! However, Orange and Pink were able to defeat him quickly. Meanwhile, Green began devouring a gingerbread cookie, now the same size as her! It took a while. But, she sprung back to her normal size after consuming the last delicious bit.
In the next room, they found a monstrosity of large size. The floating orb had a single eye in the center of its head and several appendages sprouting from its head. That’s right, a candy gazer! Pink grabbed up some burning coal from a center fountain to use as a weapon but burned herself! Orange charged it, but the candy gazer retaliated using its candy-cane antlers and delivered a peppermint paddling. It then used its sweet, sweet gaze to charm Orange! Pink and Green stayed back and used arrows. Once defeated, its charm no longer affected Orange, and he shook off the effects. Green then discovered the lock on the next door was candy-cane shaped, so she used one from the clobbered candy gazer to open the door.
On the other side stood Krampus! He was beside an enormous Christmas tree with lots of presents underneath. In the corner was a chained reindeer. The team recognized it as the missing Spirit! Krampus beat Orange with a stick for being naughty and then stuffed Pink into a sack. Green stepped behind a pillar and cast suggestion at Krampus. He was convinced to release Pink and dumped her onto the ground where she pummeled him with a flaming torch. Orange and Green joined in, and they clobbered Krampus. Pink then ran over to Spirit and picked the locks on the chains. Freed, the reindeer leapt into the air, turned into ether, and sped away. The team was immediately awash with the Christmas spirit and realized they had saved Christmas! Looking under the tree, they learned Santa had somehow left them each a present! Opening the gifts, they were bathed in healing energy that restored their used spell slots and eased their wounds. Once again, the Nerds had saved the day.
